"
"I do not care whether I am or not. I don't want to lose Miss Liddell
before the time agreed for."
"No doubt she is a profitable--"
"It is no question of profit," interrupted Miss Payne, grimly. "Whether
she goes or whether she stays she is bound to me financially for twelve
months. But I am interested in Katherine, and it will be far better for
her to stay on here and feel her way before she launches into the whirl
of what they call society. I want to save her for a while from the wild
rush of dressing, driving, dining, dancing, that has swept away all my
girls sooner or later. Look here: the mothers are flocking round her
already." She began to take the cards out of the dish and read the
names: "Lady Mary Vincent, 23 Waldegrave Crescent; she is a sister of
that Lord Melford who ran such a rig years ago. _Her_ boys are still at
Eton. I suppose she comes because her niece and Miss Liddell have struck
up a friendship at Castleford. Then here are Mrs. and Miss Alford; we
all knew them in Rome; there's a son _there_; they are respectable
people, well off, and fighting their way up judiciously enough. Lady
Barrington; _she_ has a nephew, but she will be useful. Mr. and Mrs.
Tracey; they were at Florence, and have a couple of daughters; there may
be a nephew or a cousin, but I never heard of one; they are pleasant,
sensible, artistic people, who just enjoy themselves and don't trouble.
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